| Scandalous | |
| Cover: | Mis-Teeq - Scandalous.jpg |
| Border: | yes |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Mis-Teeq |
| Album: | Eye Candy |
| Studio: | StarGate (Norway) |
| Genre: | R&B |
| Length: | 3:59 |
| Producer: | StarGate |
| Prev Title: | Roll On / This Is How We Do It |
| Prev Year: | 2002 |
| Next Title: | Can't Get It Back |
| Next Year: | 2003 |
"Scandalous" is a song by British girl group Mis-Teeq. It was composed by band members Su-Elise Nash, Alesha Dixon, and Sabrina Washington along with frequent collaborators Hallgeir Rustan, Tor Erik Hermansen, and Mikkel Eriksen for their second studio album, Eye Candy (2003), with production handled by the latter two under their production moniker StarGate. Written in the key of C minor, "Scandalous" is an up-tempo R&B song with a heavy bassline, strings, a siren sound, and suggestive lyrics.
The song became a hit throughout Europe and Oceania, reaching the top 10 in Australia, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. "Scandalous" has sold 195,000 copies in the UK, becoming the group's biggest-selling single.[1] In 2004, "Scandalous" was chosen as Mis-Teeq's second single in the United States, where it reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100, number two on the Billboard Dance Singles Sales chart, and number 11 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40.
A mashup of "Scandalous" with the Redman & Adam F song "Smash Sumthin'" was performed live at the 2003 MOBO Awards, where the song was nominated for two awards, including 'Best Video'.[2] The mashup, titled "Sumthin' Scandalous", appears on the limited edition of "Eye Candy".
The music video was directed by Jake Nava. It starts at night, where a lone man is seen running through an urban, inner city area, and disabling CCTV cameras, with a vicious dog on a leash barking at him. The man then runs into an unused warehouse, the location of a secret nightclub where Mis-Teeq are seen. Street dance and breakdancing is predominantly seen throughout the rest of the video. The audio for the music video starts out as the radio version for most of the song, before transitioning to the Jazzwad remix from the middle of the bridge onwards.
Credits are taken from the Eye Candy album booklet.[9]
Studios
Personnel
| Chart (2003–2004) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada CHR/Pop Top 30 (Radio & Records)[10] | 4 | |
| Canada Hot AC Top 30 (Radio & Records)[11] | 16 | |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[12] | 13 | |
| Greece (IFPI)[13] | 11 | |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[14] | 7 | |
| Romania (Romanian Top 100)[15] | 15 | |
| US Billboard Hot 100[16] | 35 | |
| US Dance Club Play (Billboard)[17] | 32 | |
| US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[18] | 2 | |
| US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[19] | 11 |
| Chart (2003) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[20] | 68 | |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[21] | access date=11 September 2022 | 88 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[22] | 47 | |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[23] | 50 | |
| UK Singles (OCC)[24] | 40 |
| Chart (2004) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Dance Radio Airplay (Billboard)[25] | 42 | |
| US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[26] | 23 | |
| US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[27] | 51 |
| Region | Date | Format | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 17 March 2003 | CD | Telstar | [28] |
| Japan | 31 March 2003 | Victor | [29] | |
| Australia | 7 April 2003 | Telstar | [30] | |
| United States | 12 April 2004 | Contemporary hit radio | Reprise | [31] |
| 15 June 2004 | CD | [32] |
Mis-Teeq promoted the song by appearing in Coca-Cola television commercials aired in 2003 to coincide with the song's release, resulting in extra publicity.[33] The song was then featured in promotions for the 2004 film Catwoman. Originally, the film's theme song was to be Britney Spears' "Outrageous", but Spears broke her knee on the set of the music video and the idea was scrapped. This resulted in "Scandalous" becoming the theme song. It was also featured in the 2024 film Madame Web.
The song is also featured on the fictional radio station "Non-Stop Pop FM" in GTA V.